Car names legal to use???

[Michael]

Hi,
i know this question has been posted here before (or was it on the Dexterity forums?) but i searched everywhere and can't find it.

Anyway, i would like to know if it's legal to use car names (like Opel Astra, Peugeot 306,... for example) in a commercial pc game?

I'm not talking about their logos, just their name.

Any help would be welcome ;)

[alfie]

I am not a lawyer. But I would be surprised if you did not need a licence to use the names. Bearing in mind that these car companies trademark the names and therefore using them without permission would result in Trademark infringement.

[Roulette]

You cannot use real car names in your game without permission.

- Roulette
http://www.superluminal.us

[PoV]

I recall seeing Sony having issues with car manufacturer's in the Grand Turismo games, some not available in the US version because of some legality issues. I'd imagine they had a dedicated legal department for it, seeing how the latest Grand Turismo claims some 700 cars. You run in to the same problems with player associations as far as sport games are concerned, like you need NHLPA permission to use hockey player names, and NHL permission to use the actual team names.

[Michael]

What a mess...
It's like they still don't have enough money! :(

[PoV]

Hehe... yeah, probably. But given that the sides were reversed, and you were the owner of some property, and someone else was to profit off it, and not you, wouldn't that suck. :D

[GBGames]

You'll note that even with those sports games, free agents such as Michael Jordan are never featured. Getting a license to use the player's names from the NBA still doesn't give you the right to the free agents not part of the player's association.

On the other hand, public figures like George Bush and John Kerry are ok. So where does the line get drawn legally?

[RedKnight]

There was also time that EA sport removed every names from
the holland soccer league in their game.

[Anthony Flack]

Name your cars after George Bush and John Kerry.

[Chris Evans]

My '01 Ashcroft comes equiped with mic and hidden spycam. Best SUV on the market.

[Yossarian]

I'm pretty pissed that my new '05 Bush is actually just the same thing as their old '88 Bush, just with newer bodywork.

...and don't get me started on how they still use those old gas guzzling 4 liter Cheney engines... you know, the ones with the bad starters...

[RedKnight]

just change your names.

Honda -> Ponda.
Toyota -> Too Yoda.

or something.

[unreason]

Yeah, I think Grand Theft Auto had this problem, hence the made-up car names.

[James C. Smith]

Or you could rename Toyota to Toyeda, and Nissan could be Datsun or Nippon Sangyo ;-)

[Andy]

Hell knows really.
Trademark law steps against "sounds similar" trademark infringement as well... :confused:

[GBGames]

IANAL.

Anyway, I think that if there is a strong reason to believe that customers could become confused, then it is considered infringement. When Marvel sued City of Heroes, the question should be whether or not there is reason to believe that the customers were confused that Marvel had anything to do with the game.